HP200 DVD DLA software word to the wise

[parent55]

Hi, Although I am now successfully using the HP200 DVD drive, I discovered that there is a glitch in HP's DLA software that assists Retrospect to access the DVD drive. I have discovered that if your Retrospect backup session terminates abnormally (particularly with a system hang or crash) that you will subsequently get a message from DLA when you try to use the DVD disk that was in the drive. Although DLA claims to fix the problem it discovered, I have found that if you proceed to use Retrospect it is likely to hang in the middle of the backup.

 

 

 

When you next used the DVD disk (that was in your machine when the earlier problem occurred), then DLA shows a dialog box with a message that says that it has fixed a problem with the DVD disk and cautions you to shut down your system correctly in the future. Although you respond "OK", I have discovered that the fix to the DVD disk is not completed until you restart your system again.

 

 

 

The workaround seems to be:

 

Before starting Retrospect you should have the DVD disk in the dirve and if you get the message from DLA, restart with the DVD disk still in the drive. The "fix" to the DVD disk "takes" at this point. Then when the system starts up and you log on again, you should not get another message from the DLA software. You should then be able to proceed successfully with a Retrospect backup.

 

 

 

Regards, Rich 6-30

[mjlodge]

I cannot get the HP DVD 200i to work with Retrospect at all. When I put in a blank DVD+RW disk, Retrospect shows "busy..." for the drive status. It isn't doing anything and it won't let you proceed with the backup. If I put in a DVD+RW that has been formatted with HP DLA, then it says "unrecognized format" and then shows error -119, saying "no serial number" and ejects the disk.

 

 

 

Any suggestions?

[AmyJ]

While in Retrospect, go to Configure > Devices > Environment. Please list Vendor, Product and Version.

 

 

[mjlodge]

HP DVD200i 1.27

 

 

 

 

[mjlodge]

The full output is:

 

 

 

Vendor: HP

 

Product: DVD Writer 200i

 

Version: 1.27

 

 

 

I had the same problem with HP firmware 1.06 -- I upgraded to the latest, 1.27, to see if that would fix the problem.

 

 

 

Mathew

[AmyJ]

Are you using the Retrospect Driver Update? Version 3.0 or higher is required for proper use with this drive. Please check Reports > Log. Right after an entry for "Retrospect launched..." you should see an entry for the driver update. If you do not see Retrospect Driver Update 3.x or higher loading, please download a copy from:

 

 

 

www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=download_software

 

 

 

Have you tried another brand of DVD?

 

 

 

 

[mjlodge]

OK, I downloaded and installed the driver update (note to Dantz: might want to make that easier to figure out!)

 

 

 

When I start Retrospect it says

 

 

 

+ Retrospect Driver Update, version 3.0.101

 

 

 

Now, if I go to the "Configure" tab and click on "Devices", Retrospect begins to scan my system for devices. It starts with Device 0 (where my HP DVD drive is) and freezes. Ctrl-alt-delete is the only way out at this point. If I leave the computer alone and come back 15 minutes later, it's still stuck there.

 

 

 

So, I still don't have Retrospect working with the HP DVD200i. And now my computer freezes, rather than the backup just not working...

 

 

 

Suggestions?

 

 

 

Mathew

 

 

 

 

[AmyJ]

Remove the RDU and try the device scan again - does it still freeze? If so, your RDU file may have gotten corrupted during the download. I would suggest downloading a new copy.